Thursday, August 1, 2013

Clarins Extra Firming Lip & Contour Balm

I have been on the lookout for a good lip conditioner for a long time. I've tried them from just about every brand out there and a couple of months ago, I decided to go ahead and try the one from Clarins. I've used Clarins skincare in the past and I've always been impressed with them, so I decided that it would be worth a shot to see if this product performed the way the $38 price tag implied it would.

To cut to the chase ... it's not worth the $38. At least not to me.

It is a nice lip conditioner. It is not a miracle worker.

The packaging, especially at this price point, is really underwhelming. Don't get me wrong, it's nice packaging, very sturdy glass jar with a lid that fits tightly. But having to dip my fingers into the product in order to apply it is ... MEH. It did come with a little spatula so you could use that to keep the product sanitary, but why? It's not like the product is so liquid that Clarins couldn't just mold it into tube form and package it like a lipstick, which would also make it infinitely more portable.

So the product is nice. It feels nice on the lips, hydrating without being too oily or too sticky. It contains a lot of mineral oil, which again ... meh. As far as the "Contour Balm" part, it didn't do a damn thing for the fine lines around my lips. The product doesn't last terribly long on the lips either. All in all, I felt like the texture and the results were really similar to what I would get from using Chapstick, though Chapstick's packaging is a lot less annoying and its price point certainly beats Clarins all to hell.

Overall, this is a giant miss for me. The Clarins Extra-Firming Lip & Contour Balm contains 15mL of product and retails for $38 wherever Clarins is sold. I bought mine at Dillards.